Regulation of gene expression and subcellular protein distribution in MLO-Y4 osteocytic cells by lysophosphatidic acid: Relevance to dendrite outgrowth.

Osteoblastic and osteocytic cells are highly responsive to the lipid growth factor lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) but the mechanisms by which LPA alters bone cell functions are largely unknown. A major effect of LPA on osteocytic cells is the stimulation of dendrite membrane outgrowth, a process that we predicted to require changes in gene expression and protein distribution. We employed DNA microarrays for global transcriptional profiling of MLO-Y4 osteocytic cells grown for 6 and 24h in the presence or absence of LPA. We identified 932 transcripts that displayed statistically significant changes in abundance of at least 1.25-fold in response to LPA treatment. Gene ontology (GO) analysis revealed that the regulated gene products were linked to diverse cellular processes, including DNA repair, response to unfolded protein, ossification, protein-RNA complex assembly, and amine biosynthesis. Gene products associated with the regulation of actin microfilament dynamics displayed the most robust expression changes, and LPA-induced dendritogenesis in vitro was blocked by the stress fiber inhibitor cytochalasin D. Mass spectrometry-based proteomic analysis of MLO-Y4 cells revealed significant LPA-induced changes in the abundance of 284 proteins at 6h and 844 proteins at 24h. GO analysis of the proteomic data linked the effects of LPA to cell processes that control of protein distribution and membrane outgrowth, including protein localization, protein complex assembly, Golgi vesicle transport, cytoskeleton-dependent transport, and membrane invagination/endocytosis. Dendrites were isolated from LPA-treated MLO-Y4 cells and subjected to proteomic analysis to quantitatively assess the subcellular distribution of proteins. Sets of 129 and 36 proteins were enriched in the dendrite fraction as compared to whole cells after 6h and 24h of LPA exposure, respectively. Protein markers indicated that membranous organelles were largely excluded from the dendrites. Highly represented among the proteins with elevated abundances in dendrites were molecules that regulate cytoskeletal function, cell motility and membrane adhesion. Our combined transcriptomic/proteomic analysis of the response of MLO-Y4 osteocytic cells to LPA indicates that dendritogenesis is a membrane- and cytoskeleton-driven process with actin dynamics playing a particularly critical role.